His Touch
by Dana Hale
Summary: A P/O reunion scene with the REAL Olivia . Only Peter can calm her with his touch.
1. Chapter 1

TITLE: His Touch

RATING: T

SPOILERS: Over There Part 2

SUMMARY: A P/O reunion scene. Only Peter can calm her when she returns.

DISCLAIMER: Characters not mine, blah blah blah, don't sue me, blah blah blah

* * *

The ringtone of his cell phone abruptly startled him out of his accidental cat nap at the lab. Peter quickly berated himself  
for allowing the indulgence of sleep. He had not planned on sleeping at all until Olivia was back safe and sound.

Answering his phone, he heard the authoritative voice of Broyles: "We found her. She's back."

Astrid and Walter were watching Peter as he took the call and noticed the change of expression on his face. They quickly  
walked over to him; they knew it had to be news about Olivia. Peter moved his mouth away from his cell to quickly blurt  
out to them, "They found her."

"Oh that's wonderful!" Walter proclaimed and clapped his hands together and held them in a prayer-like clasp.

Peter shook his head and held out his hand at Walter to shush him. Peter didn't quite dare celebrate yet. Something in  
Broyles' voice seemed to tamper down the joy of the news he had so anxiously wanted to hear.

Returning to his phone call with Broyles, he fired out to him, "How? Where?"

"We found her collapsed on the stage in the Opera House. Walter's idea of keeping the door open a crack must have  
helped her to get back on her own."

"Is she okay?"

"That's what we're trying to determine. They transported her by helicopter to Boston General," Broyles added.

"I'm on my way," Peter said hastily as he hung up with Broyles.

Astrid and Walter picked up on the fact that something was wrong and their happiness was zapped when Peter hurriedly  
grabbed the car keys off the work table. "You guys stay here. I'll call you in a bit," he called back to them.

Peter's adrenaline quickly rushed throughout his body, sending his nerves reeling on end and his legs swiftly running  
through the doors of the lab.

Arriving at the hospital in record time, Peter was ready to bolt into her room when Broyles stepped in front of him to prevent  
him from going in.

"You need to be prepared first before you go in there."

With panic present on his face and his patience gone, Peter let out a long breath. "What's going on?"

"She is showing classic symptoms of having been held in solitary confinement. She's huddled in the corner of the room and  
won't let anyone go near her. Most likely they kept her in the dark because she's shielding her eyes from the light. She's very  
combative and sensitive to touch. She may be suffering internal damage as well; she was beaten and her arm is broken.  
And from the looks of it, they didn't give her much food or water, but she has plenty of needle marks so they must have been  
drugging her."

Broyles paused and looked towards her room. Peter realized that as stoic as Broyles usually was, he was noticeably upset at  
seeing one of his Agents in such a state.

"I never would have believed she could be so...broken," Broyles sadly admitted.

Peter blinked slowly and swallowed hard. One of the reasons why Peter found himself drawn to Olivia from the start was her  
inner strength and riveting tenacity. To have those qualities stripped raw from her in such an unimaginable, vicious way proved  
to ignite a hot anger deep within Peter's being. If his father were here right now (the real one), there would be no second  
thoughts as to how Peter would be at his throat, gripping him hard and squeezing the very life out of him with no remorse.

"She says she won't talk to anyone but you," Broyles said quietly, returning to his matter-of-fact demeanor. "You need to get her  
calmed down and convince her to let the doctors and nurses do their job. Her injuries need attention."

Peter nodded glumly and Broyles stepped aside to let Peter through into the room.

Broyles said he needed to be prepared. Peter quickly realized that nothing could have prepared him for the sight now before his  
eyes when he walked into her room.

Olivia looked small and frightened cowering in the corner. She protectively cradled her broken arm in an attempt to keep the bone  
from being moved. Her face was a canvas of purple bruises under tracks of tear stains and dirt. Her vacant stare out into thin air  
showed no sign of her usual determined, strong-minded spirit that Peter knew and loved so well. The compulsive way she rocked  
herself back and forth against the wall did nothing to ease the trembles and shivers running involuntarily throughout her body.

In an instant, Peter's soul shattered and ached for her. His first reaction was to run to her and enfold her in his arms, not only to  
make her pain go away, but because he had missed her so much and was so relieved that she was alive. But he instinctively  
held back. He knew that if he was going to reach her, he would have to be more stand-offish, at least at first.

He approached her slowly and quietly knelt down on his knees in front of her line of vision. Although she was looking right at him,  
there was no connection in spirit made. Peter felt his heart beat thumping in his throat.

"Olivia..." he half-whispered, half-choked out. His own agony was heard in his voice.

As quiet as his voice was, she was startled by the sound. She curled her body up even tighter and lowered her head to try to  
make herself disappear.

"It's me, Olivia, it's Peter."

He gave her a moment to let that phrase sink in, but she still had not changed her body position. Peter ever-so-gently reached out  
a hand to touch her shoulder, but before he made physical contact, she sensed his movement and struck out at him.

"Don't TOUCH me!" she hissed as loud as she could with her gravelly, tired voice. Her vocal chords had been strained from all the  
screaming she had done in her cell on the Other Side.

Peter recoiled quickly and felt the sharp, icy sting of her words. She was not recognizing his presence, and the menacing way she  
spoke made him realize just how badly she must have been treated by her captors.

Urgently wanting to reach her now, he tried again, this time stronger and louder. "Olivia, it's me. I'm here..."

With her face buried in her arms, he heard her whimper, "I just want to go home."

She rocked back and forth quickly, her stress very apparent.

"You _are_ home, Olivia. You made it back. I'm here. Please look at me. _Olivia_."

Although he couldn't see her face, he heard her start to cry. Peter didn't know how much more of this he could take.

"Olivia..._please..."_ he pleaded, tears threatening to form in his own eyes.

After a moment, she finally looked up at him and saw him.

"Peter?"

She blinked her eyes in the light, fresh tears glistening down her cheeks.

"Hey," he said affectionately with a bittersweet smile.

She slowly reached out to touch his face, not sure if he was real. Her hand felt cold against his warm skin. He gently took her  
hand away, kissed it and continued to hold it in his lap while he watched her work through her thoughts and return back to reality.

"I made it back?" she whispered in confusion.

Peter nodded while he swept away the wetness on her cheek with the thumb of his other hand. He couldn't take it anymore and  
just had to hold her. He slowly leaned in towards her see if that was okay with her. He was grateful when she crawled the rest of  
the way to him and melted into his lap. Olivia released a huge sigh of relief from her battered body while burying her face in his chest  
beneath his chin, allowing Peter to surround her with his touch.

Peter had held her before, but this time was different. Never before had he so desperately needed her close to him. So many strong  
emotions came crashing through his heart all at once and all he could do was shut his eyes to the dizzying sensation and breathe  
her in. He couldn't speak. There were no words to tell her how sorry he was that she was left behind all alone, that his own father  
did this to her, how scared he had been these last few weeks thinking that he had lost her for good.

After a while, Olivia popped up her head and looked around the room.

"A hospital? What am I doing here?"

Peter almost laughed at her question but he didn't. "You're hurt. You need medical attention. Why don't I help you up and you can  
lie down on that bed over there?"

She looked over to the bed and saw all the machines and IV hookups surrounding it. That didn't look at all appealing to her seeing  
that she had been hooked up to enough stuff recently.

She defiantly shook her head. "No. I just want you to take me home."

She left his protective embrace and proceeded to get up on her own, acting as if the last few minutes of her "insanity" had never  
happened.

"You've got to be kidding me," Peter admonished while he watched her struggle to stand. He was half worried/half relieved that she  
was so quickly returning to her usual stubborn self. "Olivia, you're severely dehydrated and your arm is broken. It needs to be set."

With a look of annoyance, she glanced down at her arm. "So grab me a coffee and let's go to the lab. Walter can set it."

"I don't think that's a good idea right now," Peter said as he gently led her over to the bed and helped her to sit on the edge of the  
mattress. She was still giving him that stern look that nonverbally told him that she really didn't want to be here, but in her heart,  
she knew he was right. She wasn't ready to see Walter's face again, regardless of which Walter it was.

Peter gazed at her tenderly, trying to convey all of the concern, worry, and fear that was still coursing through him. Taking her good  
hand in his, he begged, "Please, Olivia, you've been through a lot...I mean, we didn't even know if you were dead or alive and God  
only knows what they've...what _he's_...done to you..." He looked down at her hand he was holding and glanced at the restraint marks  
on her wrist and all of the needle tracks on her arm. Anger boiled up inside him knowing that once again she was his father's lab rat  
against her will. He felt queasy with uneasiness.

Olivia immediately pulled her hand back. She knew what he was looking at and it made her uncomfortable. Shutting her eyes, she  
remembered every awful, horrifying, violating stab of that sharp needle intruding into her veins.

"Look, I'm going to stay here with you as long as it takes. You're safe here. Please, just let the doctor take a look at you and run some  
tests so we can know that you're okay."

"Tests...no more tests..." she cringed.

"Olivia, we need to know," he said, imploring her by grasping her face with both hands. "_I_ need to know."

The touch of his hands on her face did her in. There was something about his touch...so soothing, so calming. She could do this for him.

"Okay," she quietly agreed.


	2. Chapter 2

AN: Thanks for the reviews! I really didn't know where to take this, but with your prodding I think I have some direction now...

* * *

24 hours later...

* * *

"I'm not eating THAT," Olivia protested at the sight of the watered-down chicken noodle soup. "It looks like someone ate it already and threw it back up, only to have some mean lunch-lady with a hair net from a so-called hospital cafeteria mop it up off the floor and wring it out into this bowl just for me to eat."

Peter couldn't help but laugh at her colorful outburst. "I do believe that is the grossest thing I have ever heard coming from you."

Olivia smiled proudly.

As Peter lifted a spoonful of the soup into midair and let it cascade back down into the bowl, he continued, "You know, you're right. It looks disgusting and I wouldn't eat it either. But you have to eat something. Come on, it can't be any worse than those ground-up worms Walter had you drink that one time." He tried to coax her unconvincingly.

Olivia shook her head and pouted like a three year old just to prove her point. "Nope. No way."

"Well, good to know you're back to your normal stubborn self," Peter said under his breath while moving the lunch tray off her lap and onto the adjacent table next to her hospital bed.

"Stubborn, maybe. Normal...I'm not sure what that is anymore," Olivia turned serious.

"I'm sorry Olivia, I shouldn't have said that..." Peter scratched his forehead and trailed off, suddenly causing an awkward silence between them.

Astrid knocked lightly at the door, giving Peter and Olivia a reprieve from the silence.

"Hi! Is it okay to come in?"

"Sure, Astrid. Come on in," Olivia invited.

"I brought you a change of clothes for when they let you out of here," Astrid said as she laid down the fresh outfit on the guest chair by the window.

"Thanks, Astrid. That was thoughtful of you," Olivia replied.

Astrid carefully eyed Peter for his reaction while she slowly said, "Walter's outside in the hallway."

Peter noticed Olivia tense up.

Looking back to Olivia, Astrid added, "He really wants to see you. He's been really worried about you...we all have."

Olivia nodded and let out an apprehensive sigh. She wasn't sure if she was up to seeing Walter yet.

"You don't have to see him...I can tell him to leave," Peter said as he grasped her hand in reassurance.

She looked at Peter's hand joined with her own. She felt that same calmness again coming from his touch.

"No, it's okay. You can tell him to come in."

Astrid smiled knowingly at Olivia, understanding how difficult this situation would be for her. Before she walked out the door, she turned back and said, "I'm glad you're okay. It's really good to have you back, Olivia."

"Thanks. It's good to be back," Olivia answered.

Peter kept a tight hold of her hand while Walter cautiously shuffled his way into the room.

Olivia watched him make his way to her side of the bed opposite Peter and noticed that he had tears streaming down his face.

"Oh, Olivia...my dear," he whispered as he noticed the bruises on her face and her arm in a sling. "I'm so...sorry..."

There was no mistaking that this Walter was not going to hurt her. This Walter didn't have an evil stare. This Walter genuinely cared. This Walter was just as broken inside as she was, and he wore his guilt plainly on his sad, child-like face.

"I'm going to be fine, Walter. It's not your fault," Olivia whispered back.

As soon as she said it, she realized that she said this more for his benefit than hers. She didn't really know if she was going to be fine, and when you got down to it, it really was his fault. Had he not kidnapped Peter as a boy from the Other Side in the first place, none of this would have happened.

"She's right, Walter. This time it's my fault." Peter said as he quickly got up and left the room.


	3. Chapter 3

"Son! Please don't leave!" Walter called out into the hallway.

Peter felt the pull, the desperation in Walter's voice. He cringed at the word 'son'. But Peter none the less turned back and stood in place, allowing Walter to catch up with him.

"I'm not leaving, Walter. I just need some air," Peter said exasperated.

"Please, Peter. Please don't...don't leave, please."

Walter was a bumbling emotional mess standing there shaking and stammering and crying. Peter almost felt sorry for him. Almost.

"I know you're mad at me Peter, and...and...maybe things can't be fixed between us. But Olivia...she needs you, Peter. More than you realize. Please don't be mad at her. She wanted to tell you, but I begged her not to, I told her not to."

"What are you talking about?" Peter let down his guard.

"She agonized over telling you the truth when she found out. She felt you deserved to know the truth...but then I told her to give me some time because I should be the one to tell you...and then she changed her mind and didn't want you to know because she knew you would run and she wasn't prepared for that and she didn't want to lose you so she kept the secret but she never meant to hurt you..."

"Walter, STOP," Peter loudly cut off Walter's rambling. Grabbing Walter by the shoulders, he lowered his voice and spoke slowly. "Calm down. I was just going to grab some coffee. I was going to come back."

Walter lowered his eyes in embarrassment from his telling tirade. "Oh. Okay, son."

Olivia sat all alone in her hospital bed, her mind spinning in every direction. So much had happened that hadn't even been voiced yet. She didn't have a clear recollection of how she got back home. She didn't know what Walternate had done to her with his experiments Over There. And then of course, there was that kiss; the strong but undefined feelings between her and Peter. And perhaps worst of all, Peter had yet to mention his time with the _other her_. Where was she, anyway? No one had brought her up. And where did Peter just run off to?

Olivia suddenly felt the four walls of the gloomy hospital room close in on her. She felt trapped, claustrophobic. It reminded her too much of being locked up in the cell. She had to get out. She eyed the clothes that Astrid had brought for her. Pulling the bed covers off and easing herself off the mattress, she swung her legs around and planted her feet on the cold tile floor. She felt shaky and woozy when she stood up, so she gave herself a minute to adjust. Pulling the IV from out of her arm, she was now free to stagger over to the window to get her clothes.

She couldn't stop the shakiness in her hands. It made her wonder if those awful debilitating headaches were going to come back. It was just like before, when she couldn't even load her gun because she was shaking so much. Only now she had her arm in a cast to make matters even worse. Pulling the sling off and throwing it to the ground in frustration, she managed to pull on her black pants with one arm and zip them up but was struggling with the buttons on her white collar shirt when Peter walked in the room.

"What do you think you're doing?" he scolded, surprised to see her out of bed.

"Getting the hell out of here. I'm no good at sitting around, and I've been sitting around for way too long."

She didn't look at him. Peter watched her hands struggling to button her shirt.

"Olivia, you can't leave yet." he stated boldly.

"And why the hell not?" she snapped, suddenly angry at being told what to do. "You certainly don't follow the rules when it comes to hospitals. Why should I?"

She fumbled with the buttons some more, and when the tears started falling in aggravation, Peter walked over to her and wordlessly moved her hands out of the way and started to gently button her shirt for her. It was an intimate gesture for Olivia, one that was slightly ironic in that he was buttoning shirt, not _unbuttoning_ it. Once again, it was his tender touch that silenced her, that centered her and brought her back to a state of peace.

When he was finished, he stared deep into her moist eyes and confessed, "I never should have left the way I did. I didn't even say goodbye or let you explain. And maybe if I had, none of this would have happened to you."

Olivia shook her head. "You were lost and you felt betrayed; you needed to know what it's like Over There. I can understand that. It's where you're from. And Peter...it was my decision to cross over. It was my risk to take."

Despite her words, Peter still felt the heaviness in his chest of all the things that he had yet to tell her. And now he knew exactly how she felt when she learned the truth about him. He had the same decision to make. Should he risk losing her by telling her the truth of what happened between him and her alternate, or should he withhold it from her so that he could keep her by his side and start over? Either way, he knew he had to quickly learn how to erase the memories of the _other her_ from his heart.

"Peter, can you just take me home now?" Olivia asked quietly, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"I still don't think that's a good idea," Peter replied with concern.

"I need to get out of this stuffy room. I want my freedom back and breathe fresh air, feel the sun on my face. And I just want my own bed. Please...take me home?"

He smiled at her and reached up with his hand to brush her cheek. She closed her eyes and leaned in to the warmth of his touch.

"Alright," he said simply. How could he deny her?


	4. Chapter 4

The closer they got to her apartment, the more apprehensive Olivia became. She desperately wanted to be home, but she was also beginning to feel very uncomfortable about the idea of her alternate living her life for three weeks. Olivia assumed that her alternate was no longer a threat because no one had mentioned her, and she knew Peter would never have let her come home if she were still around. So what happened to her?

Parking the station wagon along the street near her front door, Peter watched Olivia intently as she just stared at her apartment and made no move to get out of the car.

"Hey, you okay?" Peter asked. "I thought you couldn't wait to get home."

His question was answered by silence and a deep heavy sigh from Olivia.

Peter gave her a moment. Finally she spoke in a small voice as she continued to stare at her front door. "Did she pay my rent? It was due last week. Do I have any cereal left? Did she finish up the milk in the fridge?"

And with tears once again forming in her eyes, she turned to look at Peter. "Did anyone know the difference? Did Rachel? Did Ella? Did _you_?"

Peter wasn't ready for this. All of the air went out of his lungs. He couldn't breathe. He had never felt this kind of pain before. A few years ago, all he cared about was himself. But seeing Olivia now, a woman that he deeply cared for, in such a fragile state knowing that he contributed to her heartache, his own heart abruptly constricted and he was consumed with guilt.

"Olivia...I know this isn't easy for you. It isn't easy for me either. Honestly, I'm not sure I'm ready to talk about that yet."

That wasn't the answer Olivia was looking for and it scared her. She angrily brushed a fallen tear away with the back of her hand and silently cursed herself for crying in front of him.

"I need to know," she said longingly.

"Look, what's more important at the moment is for you to get some rest. I'm going to stay with you for a while, so let's get you inside."

"I'd rather just be alone right now," Olivia said sadly as she got out of the car on her own.

Peter quickly dashed out of the driver's side and slammed his car door closed with a thud. "Damn it, Olivia!" he cursed. He rushed over to her and grabbed her by the shoulders before she could even take her first step towards her apartment. "Don't do this. Don't push me away."

"It's clear that you don't want to talk, so why should you stick around?"

"Because I _want_ to be here with you. And you shouldn't be alone right now. I'm staying."

Olivia felt the power in his touch as he squeezed her shoulders. His grip wasn't hurting her, but it was enough force to let her know that he wasn't fooling around and that he meant what he said. In an odd way, it gave her comfort. It told her that he wasn't going to give up on her.

She nodded an 'okay' and felt Peter relax.

* * *

"Aren't you tired? It's almost midnight," Peter asked with a yawn. He looked over to Olivia who was curled up on the couch next to him, the room lit only by the light of the TV.

"Nope. Wide awake. I guess I'm still adjusting from the effects of the sensory deprivation," she said as she sat up. "My body still doesn't know if it's morning or night."

Another pang of guilt flooded Peter's heart along with a twinge of anger towards Walternate as Peter pictured Olivia locked up all alone in that dark cell for days on end.

Olivia winced and rubbed her forehead and felt a wave of nausea hit. She probably shouldn't have sat up so quickly.

"Headache?" Peter asked.

"Yeah," Olivia admitted.

"Your pain pills probably wore off. You want me to get you something?"

"No, I'll be fine," she managed a polite smile while tampering down the urge to throw up.

"That was a bluff if I ever saw one," Peter said as he got up and turned the kitchen light on and grabbed the bottle of pills that was on the counter.

Returning to the couch he placed two pills in her hand and held out a glass of water. "Here. Demerol. The good stuff. Maybe it will help you sleep, too."

"Thanks," she said as she swallowed the pills and followed them with a gulp of water. With a shaky hand, she clumsily dropped down the glass on the coffee table in front of her. Some of the water sloshed out of the glass forming droplets on the wood.

"This happened the last time you crossed back, didn't it? The shakiness, the headaches."

"I'll be fine. Really, Peter. I don't want you to worry about me."

Peter shook his head and let out a quiet chuckle in disbelief. "You don't get it, do you? I'm worried about you because I care about you. How come you're allowed to cross universes and risk your life to save me, but I'm barely allowed to give you two pills to try and help you feel better?"

It wasn't the first time she heard the words 'I care about you' coming from him. It felt better to her hearing them now, after everything that had happened. She needed the confirmation that he at least felt something for her and that he truly had forgiven her for keeping Walter's secret from him. Sure, he reciprocated her kiss when they were Over There, but there were still so many unanswered questions as to what that meant, and there had been no time to talk about it. Olivia suddenly realized that maybe they _had_ talked about it..._they_ meaning Peter and her alternate.

She ignored his question and sat there in horrified silence. Peter picked up on the fact that she was mulling something over. He eased back down on the couch, sitting on one leg so that he could face her.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked quietly.

"Where is she, Peter? What happened to her...what happened between you and her?"

He let out a huge sigh. Reaching for her hand and holding it close to him, he knew this was the moment of truth. He started out slowly.

"You don't remember how you got back, do you?"

Olivia wrinkled her brow in confusion. "No, not really. It's a bit fuzzy. I remember bits and pieces. I was drugged but I was trying to run away. The guards came after me. There were too many of them for me to handle. They were all throwing punches at me. I was on the ground, buried by them. One of them grabbed me by the arm and twisted it hard...that's when it broke...but then he let go...someone was yelling for him to let me go and he did. And then they all left me alone. After that it was easy to get away. It was almost like they let me escape. I remember running to the Opera House but I have no idea how I crossed back here."

"She helped you."

"What do you mean?"

"I guess in some ways she _is_ like you; tough on the outside, but she ended up having a soft heart. And because of that, she failed her mission here. She was supposed to worm her way into your life, get close to me, and then use you as a bargaining chip to get me to go back Over There to get the machine to work."

"But she didn't...get _close_ to you. You figured it out," Olivia said more as a question than a statement.

"Olivia...you have to understand that for a while there, I really thought she was you."

Olivia pulled her hand out from under his. She did not want to be swayed by the power of his touch at this moment. She did not like where this conversation was headed.

The action of her hand leaving his stung Peter. "This is _really_ awkward," he commented, running a hand through his hair and shifting his position on the couch.

"How _close_ did she get?" Olivia whispered.

"Look, you and I have been dancing around what we mean to each other for a while now, right? And after what you said to me Over There, and that kiss...well, when things settled down after we, I mean _she _and I got back, we went out a couple of times. Shared a few kisses here and there. Talked about taking things slow. That's as far as it got before I started to see things that made me question who she really was. And then she backed out of her mission and came clean when she realized how much I really do care about you. She didn't want to do this to you, to us."

The look on Olivia's face told Peter that he had just crushed her spirit.

"I'm just as upset about this as you are, Olivia. I feel horrible. I thought she was you. I still want it to be _you_," he said tenderly, trying to help her understand.

One silent tear flowed down her cheek as she looked down and started fidgeting with the couch pillow. Olivia couldn't believe how unfair all of this was. Anger, hurt, and jealousy plagued her heart. And then she thought of Charlie. She never knew the difference between Charlie and the look-alike shape shifter until the very end when he tried to kill her. He had tricked her the whole time. Completely _unfair_, she thought.

"So you said she saved me?" Olivia finally spoke.

"She was working with Newton. She convinced him that my father gave her new orders and she was to report back Over There. So Newton helped her cross back. She told me before she left that she was going to try to free you and get you back here. I was a wreck, Olivia, waiting all those days wondering if I was ever going to see you again. We didn't know if you were still alive, and I didn't know if I could trust her."

Feeling overwhelmed, Olivia reached out toward Peter and pulled him to her. She rested her head on his shoulder and he willingly wrapped his arms around her in a needy embrace.

They stayed like that for a while until Olivia's head started to hurt again. She slowly moved out of his hug and rubbed the spot on her head that was throbbing. "I think I should probably go lie down, try to sleep some," she said to Peter.

"Of course. I'll help you get settled in."

When she stood up, the room started spinning. The throbbing in her head turned into a pulsating, searing pain that she could no longer brush off as just a "headache." With every second the pulse grew stronger and sharper. Doubling over in pain, she cried out as she grabbed her head and screamed in agony.


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile Over There….

"I want to congratulate you on accomplishing your mission, Agent Dunham. You bought us just enough time to do what we needed to do with your double. You will be rewarded accordingly for your bravery. Everything is going as planned."

"Thank you, Mr. Secretary. No offense to your son, Sir, but he was easy to manipulate."

Walternate smiled. "When I saw the look on his face when he met you, I knew there was no mistaking what that look was. A man will do just about anything for the woman he loves. Your double is our key to getting what we need from Peter."

"How long until Phase II begins?"

"The first signals should be coming in soon. I have Agent Farnsworth standing by ready to analyze the data. I will inform you when we are ready for Phase II. You are dismissed."

"Yes, Sir."

* * *

Back Over Here….

"What is it, Walter? He did something to her, didn't he?" A distressed Peter held Olivia's hand while she lay sedated on the operating table in the lab.

Walter looked troubled and was about to give an answer when Astrid entered.

"I just got off the phone with the hospital. They said Olivia's blood tests came back normal. They didn't find anything wrong. How's she doing?"

"We had to sedate her. The pain was too much for her to take," Peter answered solemnly.

"Of course her blood tests came back normal," Walter said in frustration, gritting his teeth as he started to pace back and forth. "Whatever he did to her is going to be difficult to detect. He is a genius after all. Underhanded, ruthless..."

Peter left Olivia's side and walked over to Walter and held him in place at arms length.

"Walter, listen. We can't bring her to the hospital. If we tell them where she's been and what happened they'll think we're crazy. You are the only one that can help her now. I need you to focus."

"Yes. Yes, son, of course." Walter gained back control and proceeded back to the operating table. "You said that the pain she was feeling was pulsating in her head?"

"Yes," Peter nodded.

"Astrid, hand me that electroencephalogram over there, please."

"What are you thinking?" Peter asked.

Walter pressed the electrodes onto Olivia's forehead and turned on the machine.

"Hmmm, interesting. Her brain waves are emitting a frequency of 2 Hz. Wait, 4 Hz. No, now back to 2..."

Peter's face lit up. "Like that iridium cylinder that came up from the ground last year? What does that mean?"

"I hypothesize that Walternate is using her as a tracking device, a beacon from this side to the other. She may be transmitting signals, messages, that are absorbed to the other side through her subconscious. The Cortexiphan in her system must be enhancing that signal, providing the gateway for osmosis to occur between the two universes."

"So how do we stop it?" Astrid asked.

"I'm afraid it's not going to be easy. Olivia will have to do most of the work. We'll have to put her in the tank and load her up with a heavy dosage of Cortexiphan. She will have to find that place in her subconscious that is emitting the signal and break the transmission. It will be dangerous."

"No, absolutely not. She's not going back in that tank. Walter, there has to be another way," Peter was adamant.

"I'm afraid the only other way to get the transmissions to cease would be to send her back to the Other Side. In essence, Walternate has turned her into an object from the Other Side. This universe is rejecting her because of the varying frequencies. That's why I had to hook you up to a car battery, Peter, when I first brought you here. I had to jump start your brain waves to acclimate them to this universe."

Peter frowned.

"So wouldn't hooking Olivia up to a car battery do the trick?" Astrid offered.

"Not in this case. Walternate has a hold of her through the signal he created which is emanating from the Other Side . Olivia needs to break that signal which is deep in her subconscious. A car battery wouldn't have enough power. The tank is the only way."

"No. Find a way to cross me over and I'll find the kill switch," Peter said.

"That's just what Walternate wants, Peter. You can't go back there...the machine!" Walter shouted.

Astrid placed a hand on Peter's arm and tried to speak calmly. "Walter's right. If you go back, you're putting this whole universe at risk. And besides, Olivia needs you here to get through this."

Olivia's words _you belong with me_ echoed in Peter's his mind. He sighed and nodded in agreement.


	6. Chapter 6

"Are you comfortable, my dear?" Walter called from outside the tank.

"That would be a 'No'," Olivia answered honestly. Floating in the luke-warm goo of the tank had never been comfortable, but now adding her new claustrophobic tendencies along with the nauseating vibrations and pulses traveling through her brain, Olivia was very uncomfortable indeed. There was no room for her to move in the tank with all of the wires she was hooked up too, plus the cast on her arm had to be wrapped up tightly to keep it dry. Olivia took a deep breath and blew it out slowly to try to calm herself.

Walter ignored her answer as he busied himself with turning on the various machines and monitors used for this heinous operation. He started to hum a happy tune and Astrid gave him an incredulous look while she helped him prepare.

Kneeling down in front of the tank, Peter ducked his head at her eye-level and noticed the pain showing in Olivia's face as she struggled to keep herself from falling apart both physically and mentally.

"Hey," he said gently as he touched her shoulder. "You sure you're okay with this? Because I..."

"I have to try, Peter," she interrupted. "You can't go back Over There."

"I don't like this idea at all," he said stroking her cheek.

"I'm not too crazy about it either. Just promise me you'll be here to pull me out if it goes bad."

"Close the doors, Peter! It's time to get started!" Walter shouted with excitement.

Placing a quick chaste kiss to her forehead, Peter whispered, "I'll be right here the whole time."

He stood and reluctantly shut the two heavy iron doors, the sound of their closing echoing in Olivia's sensitive ears, leaving her all alone in the dark tank.

"Can you hear me, Olivia?" Walter spoke into the microphone.

"Yes."

"Excellent. Now you remember how this works. You must listen to my voice and my voice only. It will be your only tether should you go in too deep."

Pointing to the Cortexiphan IV bag he said, "Astrid, start the drip please. Okay, Olivia, the Cortexiphan should be kicking in any minute now. I want you to close your eyes and count backwards from twenty to one."

Peter watched her from the monitor as she started to count. She made it to 13 when her body jumped in the water and the heart monitor sounded an alarm as her heart rate spiked.

"Walter..." Peter nervously questioned.

"It's alright, son. She's arrived."

"Tell me where you are, Olivia," Walter said calmly.

_"It's dark. I can't see anything. Wait...there's a light up ahead."_

"Good. You need to walk towards the light."

_Olivia felt her way through the darkness, guided by the distant illumination of a glowing green light. With each step she made, the pulsating pain in her head grew stronger. She stopped walking and grabbed the sides of her head and screamed, "I can't do this! It hurts too much!"_

"Olivia, you must get closer to the light. You have to fight through the pain," Walter encouraged.

Peter was agitated and grabbed Walter's arm. "We can't do this to her. It's too dangerous."

Astrid watched on, wondering if she should interfere as the two Bishops stared each other down.

_Olivia managed to make her way closer to the light_._ She fell on the ground, writhing in pain just a few feet from the light source that was hanging in mid-air surrounded by the dark abyss all around her. She looked up and saw that it wasn't just one light, but four lights, glowing and pulsating to the same rhythms that she felt in her head. It glowed in a pattern, a series of colors. Green Green Green Red. Green Green Green Red. Green Green Green Red. Over and over again. Green Green Green Red. Green Green Green Red. Olivia was sucked into the sensations that the pulses created. It mesmerized her as the colors flashed in sync before her eyes and matched the pain that she was feeling. It had a calming affect the more she was pulled into it. It started to dull her pain to the point where she was hypnotized and could no longer hear or feel anything. She was under the control of the lights._

Walter had no time to argue with Peter as several of the monitors' alarms went off and his attention turned back to Olivia.

"What's happening?" Peter shouted.

"Olivia! Can you hear me?" Walter yelled into the microphone.

No answer.

"Olivia! Where are you? Tell me what you see!"

No answer.

"I'm pulling her out." Peter said in anger to Walter as he made his way towards the tank.

"NO!" Walter ran after him. "You can't right now. She's in too deep. Pulling her out would kill her. We have to re-establish contact with her first."

Peter tightened his jaw and stared at the rusty tank, wanting so desperately to pull her out. But his heart sank in knowing that Walter was right.

* * *

Meanwhile Over There...

"I'm getting a signal, Mr. Secretary," Agent Farnsworth said in monotone.

"Excellent. Let's just see what kind of force we're dealing with. Increase the frequency."

"Yes, Sir."


	7. Chapter 7

_Olivia was fascinated by the pull of the Green Green Green Red lights. The patterned sequence sped up and went faster and faster, drawing her into the new rhythms and sensations that rippled through her nervous system. All of the pain was released from her body and she felt higher than a kite. She thought she heard someone calling her name, but she didn't really care. Being here, in this place, was all that mattered to her._

"Walter, it's been two minutes and she's not going to answer. We have to do something!" Peter shouted.

Walter remained peculiarly calm despite the situation and Peter's anxiety. "Astrid, slow down the Cortexiphan drip, please. Perhaps we can gently coax her back by lessening the drug."

Astrid did as told while Peter stared at Olivia on the monitor. There was no movement coming from her.

_To Olivia's astonishment, the first green light in the sequence went out. Now there were only two green lights and one red one. "No, dont!" she shouted, but no one heard her. When the second green light went out, she began to panic. "Please, don't! Turn it back on!" She felt a heaviness in her chest, and she found it difficult to breathe. The third green light went out, leaving just the red one blinking slowly in front of her. "Stop it...put them back on NOW! Please..." She crumpled back down to the ground, thrashing. The pain returned full force inside her head as the pulsating red light penetrated her brain._

The alarm on her heart monitor sounded once more, and Peter watched as her heart rate spiked and then severely dropped down to a flat line. His eyes widened and before he could vocalize what was happening, Astrid jumped into action.

"Oh no! She's in cardiac arrest!" Astrid exclaimed, rushing to grab the defibrillator.

Peter sprinted over to the tank, ripped open the heavy iron doors as if they were paper, and yanked Olivia out in one strong swoop with his arms. Walter stood by stunned while Astrid started to charge the defibrillator. Peter, on the other hand, couldn't wait for the paddles to charge. Taking in Olivia's ghostly pallor as she lay cold and soaked to the bone on the ground, he realized that she wasn't breathing. He began CPR. After giving her a few puffs of his breath, he placed the palms of his hands over her heart. Peter pushed down hard into her chest and felt a huge shock go through his hands and run up through his arms. The shock was enough to throw Peter back a few feet, but Olivia quickly shot up in a sitting position, gasping for air while coughing and spitting up water.

Olivia managed to catch her breath as Walter placed a blanket around her shoulders and she sat in place trying to regain her bearings. Her unsure and fearful eyes searched for Peter and saw that he had been thrown to the ground a few feet away from her. His shaken eyes locked onto hers, and when he saw that she was alright, he lowered his gaze down to his hands, holding them out in front of him. They were still tingling.

"What the hell was THAT?" Peter exclaimed.

"I don't know, Peter…I don't know," Walter was astonished.

* * *

Olivia walked out of the side room of the lab with Astrid's help, freshly dressed and toweling off the water drops falling from her long hair.

"You sure you're okay?" Peter asked as he took her from Astrid and helped her to sit in a chair.

"The headache is gone…I don't know how to explain it. I just feel….numb."

"You're not the only one," Peter said as he stretched out his fingers trying to get the feeling back in his hands.

"So Astrid told me what happened, how you saved me. There just isn't a point where this could get any weirder, is there?"

"Give it ten minutes," Peter managed to smile. "But seriously, what happened in the tank?"

"I haven't a clue. I don't remember anything."

"Maybe that's a good thing."

"I was hoping it would give me some clues as to what happened to me Over There."

"We'll figure it out, 'Livia."

"Peter…" she searched his eyes, looking lost. "So…what do we do next? I don't know where to begin or how to…"

Peter knelt down and placed his fingers over her lips. "Shhhh. Let's not think about that right now. I'm going to take you home and you're going straight to bed to rest."

"Will you be there when I wake up?"

"Only if you want me to be."

Olivia nodded her answer.

Peter touched her face delicately. "I really am sorry, Olivia, about everything."

"I know."

She knew from the feel of his touch.

* * *

Meanwhile Over There…

"The data has been captured, Mr. Secretary. I confirm that the last surge of power received from the transmission was from Peter." Agent Farnsworth said.

"It worked! Good! Start converting the data we received into code so that the power source of the machine can accept it. Inform Lt. Broyles and Agent Dunham that we are ready to begin Phase II. Let the war begin."

* * *

The End…Bring on Season 3!


End file.
